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The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. Agency officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final counts are in. It would be only the second annual decline since the current national drug death epidemic began more than three decades ago. (Stobbe, 5/15)

Drug overdose deaths decreased slightly last year, falling for the first time since 2018, early data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Wednesday shows. Still, overdose deaths remain extremely high. More than 107,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2023, down from roughly 111,000 in 2022, the data showed. (Sullivan, 5/15)

Walgreens is set to offer a cheaper version of an important opioid reversal drug at its stores soon, according to Wednesday press release. “Walgreens today announced it is expanding access to an over the counter, life-saving medication with the launch of Walgreens Brand Naloxone HCI Nasal Spray,” reads the press release from Walgreens’ parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance. (Suter, 5/15)

When Travis County Judge Andy Brown got a phone call two weeks ago about a rash of overdoses that claimed at least eight lives in Austin over a span of 27 hours, he knew the dark day he had been preparing for had arrived. “That day was absolutely horrible and something we haven’t seen before as far as I know,” Brown said. (Simpson, 5/16)

For almost six years, R struggled with addiction. He said he tried to quit using opioids and ​​benzodiazepines more than 50 times — mostly “cold turkey” — but it never worked. In 2020, he got arrested. When he got out of jail on bond a few days later, R said he knew he needed to do something different so his life wouldn’t be cycling in and out of jail. That change came on March 14, 2020, when he started taking Suboxone. The medication containing buprenorphine and naloxone is one of the most effective known treatments for opioid use disorder. (Crumpler, 5/16)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Addiction Treatment Homes Say Montana’s Funding Fixes Don’t Go Far Enough

Montana health officials have started a voucher system to help people with substance use disorders move into transitional housing as they rebuild their lives. But those who run the clinical houses said the new money isn’t enough to fix a financial hole after a prior state revamp. (Houghton, 5/16)